The reunited Korean women’s volleyball team sets out to restore their pride.
The national team departed for Istanbul,메이저사이트 Turkey via Incheon International Airport on the 22nd to participate in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL). We will move directly to Antalya, where the VNL Week 1 competition will be held.
National team coach Cesar Hernandez, who was absent during the training camp in Korea due to his team’s schedule, will join the national team in Turkiye. Coach Han Yu-mi filled the vacancy of coach Cesar, and Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life Insurance) also helped her juniors train as an advisor.
Korean women’s volleyball wrote a myth of advancing to the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Afterwards, Kim Yeon-kyung, Yang Hyo-jin (Hyundai Construction), and Kim Su-ji (Heungkuk Life Insurance) retired from the national team and entered a generational change.
The absence of key players was larger than expected. In last year’s VNL, the national team suffered the humiliation of losing all 12 matches. Korea was the first country to record all losses and zero points in the VNL, which was launched in 2018. Even at the world championships, it was sluggish with 1 win and 4 losses. The FIVB ranking of Korean women’s volleyball has already fallen to 23rd.
As there are many young players with little experience in international competitions, this year is also expected to be tough. Among the 12 teams we will meet in the 1st to 3rd weeks, Croatia (27th) is the only country with a lower ranking than us.
Kim Yeon-kyung, who is scheduled to accompany the national team until the first week of VNL, said, “Some say that (the player base) has become thicker compared to last year. Coach Han Yu-mi, who started walking the path of a leader through the national team, said, “Last year, I was in pain, so the players have the will to do it. Personally, my goal is to win one win every week in the VNL.”
After the VNL, big competitions such as the Paris Olympics qualifiers and the Hangzhou Asian Games are waiting in succession in September and October. Captain Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank) said, “From the first day of camp training, I said to work hard. (Team) is now in the process of being created, so I want to show you how to improve gradually. All competitions are important, but the most important thing (September-October) It’s two competitions. By then, my organizational skills can improve, and I’m working hard to gather good looks even if we just meet eyes.”
Kim Yeon-kyung said, “Everyone knows that we have to perform better than last year. The first goal is to show that we are ‘developing’ no matter who sees it.” I will make it happen,” he promised.
